A Rough Start
by scubalover28
Summary: Oneshot of the beginning of The Chamber of Secrets from Hermione's POV. When Ron and Harry don't show up on Platform 9 3/4 Hermione begins to fear the worst: that the summer caused the boys to change their mind on their friendship with the third member of the Golden Trio. Read to learn the events happening on the Hogwarts Express while Ron and Harry fly behind it.


_Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! This is my first fanfiction (well really it's my first ever creative writing project) so be gentle.  
Based on the prompt: Oneshot of Ron and Hermione fight._

* * *

_Where are those two? I barely heard from them all summer and now they are avoiding me on the train too?_ Hermione thought to herself as she wandered the corridor of the Hogwarts Express. As she walked, she peered through the glass of the compartments looking for the distinctive black and orange mops of hair. In his last owl Ron told Hermione to meet on platform 9¾ but, when she spotted the mob of gingers, Ron and Harry were nowhere to be found; Mrs. Weasley speculated that they ran ahead to save an empty compartment.

Hermione continued her second pass through the train, lost in her thoughts:

_Why would they be avoiding me? _The ravenclaws on the other side of the glass gave her a questioning look.

_I know we had a rough start to our friendship but I thought the adventure with the sorcerer's stone solidified us. _The old witch with the candy trolley moved the side to allow her to pass.

Glancing into the next window she saw a group of second years. Not moving from the window, she continued delving into her memories. _Everything seemed fine between us at Diagon Alley, at least until Flourish and Blotts. There was the tension with the Malfoys but that's hardly new! I don't know why Harry and Ron would be avoiding me now._ A sudden movement broke her from her reverie – the boy she was unknowingly staring at turned his head in her direction. It wasn't until then that her trance broke and she registered the startling white hair of the boy. She snapped her head away and hurried off right as Malfoy's lip turned up into a sneer.

As Hermione reached the last car she combed through her mind, searching through the last of her interactions with her best friends. Suddenly she remembered the reason they were in Flourish and Blotts in the first place. _I know the boys weren't nearly as excited to get to meet the famous and heroic Gilderoy Lockhart as I was, which I don't understand at all, but that's hardly a reason to hide from me! I know Ron threatened to stop talking to me because I was "gushing" about the soon to be Defense Against the Dark Arts professor but I didn't think he was serious and I didn't think Harry would ever go with him. Blimey, I wasn't even gushing! I merely was giving them an overview of his accomplishments. I thought they would be interested, with their love of epic adventures. I just can't believe they would leave me behind…_ Hermione's thoughts continued racing as she spiraled deeper into loneliness.

She finally gave up her search, contending that her friends didn't want to be found. She opened the door to the compartment housing Neville, Seamus, and Dean. "I bet they are bloody using the cloak" she muttered to herself whilst sinking into the window seat next to Neville. Neville raised his eyebrow in her direction but determined it was best to leave the young witch alone after seeing the anger in her eyes. She spent the rest of the trip in silence, not even speaking to remark on the magic behind the Hogwarts carriages.

As she entered the Great Hall, Hermione's anger turned into determination – determination to confront her so called friends about their disgraceful actions. Taking a seat at the long Gryffindor table she focused her attention on the door knowing there is no way that they could come in without her seeing. As the last of the students trickled in Hermione became more distressed. Her fear and the feeling of rejection covered the whispers of concern coming from the edges of her mind. She barely registered Snape slinking away from the professor table following Filch out a hidden door. Hermione sunk into despair punctuated with rage, her thoughts only interrupted by the short bursts of applause coming from varying tables. She vowed to get to the bottom of this when her friends finally showed their faces.

* * *

Hermione sat hunched over a table in the crimson common room aggressively writing a Herbology assignment that the class would receive tomorrow; her quill dug into the parchment producing a shrill squeak from the paper. "Blimey Mione you're gonna rip the paper if you keep pressing like that," joked Ron as he peered from the edge of the table. Harry elbowed him in the ribs to stop him when he saw the flash of anger in the girl's eyes as her head snapped up at the comment. Ron read Hermione's mood a second too late and started backing away with Harry in tow but Hermione had already rose to her feet and began stomping towards the pair.

Grabbing the boys' shirts in both of her fists she shouted, "Where the bloody hell have you two been? I looked for you two everywhere and now you just prance over here without a single explanation!" Tears started to puddle at the base of her eyes. Harry and Ron shared a startled look. Ron began to stammer an explanation but was cut off by Hermione. "I don't need your excuses." she spat at Ron "If you didn't want to be friends anymore you could have just said so instead of leaving me alone on the platform waiting."

Hermione dropped her hands to her side and began to turn back to the table, the tears finally spilling over. Ron caught her wrist in his large hand, spinning her back around. "Merlin's beard, I have no idea what you're prattling on about," Ron said softly, afraid to anger her again. Hermione caught sight of Harry over Ron's shoulder. His face soft as he added, "Do you really think we'd leave you? We wouldn't even be here without you." Hermione's expression softened as she turned back to Ron who was still awkwardly holding her wrist. "I can't wait to hear this story," Hermione muttered, giving her friends a bashful smile. She pulled them both into a group hug before dragging them to one of the plush couches, ready to hear their fantastic tale of the flying Ford Angela. All of her thoughts of abandonment were forgotten alongside of her Herbology scroll.


End file.
